'Clearly as is the usual case with this disaster of a government, none of this has been thought through' - Your Letters: July 22
PICTURE FROM THE ARCHIVE: This picture is from Mo Foster, who became a top session musician as a bass player. Born in 1944, he lived in Bilbrook and Brewood and went to Brewood Grammar School. The name of the group picture was The Pheasants, and the picture in rehearsals comes from around 1958.
ISA POLICY NOT THOUGHT THROUGH
I recently mentioned the folly of a policy that attempts to nudge Cash ISA investors to move into Share ISAs and this was brought home on overhearing a very frail old lady discussing what was best for her small amount of savings with a lady at the building society. She understood interest rates but stocks and share? As the song goes: "A trip to the moon on gossamer wings. Just one of those things."
The policy becomes yet more ridiculous when one as we now have to say 'drills down'.
1. If people actually (which is doubtful) transferred to stocks and shares, most of the investment would go into foreign companies ie outside the UK. Therefore, the favourable effect on direct UK companies is limited.
2. We are told that this government will ensure the building of hundreds of thousands of 'affordable homes' (they won't be due to additional net zero costs). In the unlikely event that this does happen, it will result in high demands for mortgages. Building societies will be unable to meet this as cash will have been drained out and put into stocks and shares. Furthermore, following the Northern Rock fiasco, the liquidity ratios at building societies necessitates high levels of backstop cash not being available for loans.
Clearly as is the usual case with this disaster of a government, none of this has been thought through.
